


Universal and Non-Universal Light Diffraction Theory By Alice Quinn

by Chronometry



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Other, Penny is dead and STILL getting dragged into the group's problems, Q still fixes the Mirror but other things happen, This will sort of focus on Alice for a while, i refuse to accept canon, spoilers 4x13 - the seam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:11:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18511792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronometry/pseuds/Chronometry
Summary: "Hey.” Penny nods his head in greeting. “Been awhile”“Welcome to the Underworld” he greets.“Really?” Quentin asks in disbelief.Penny was just about to open his mouth so he could usher Q away when, from right beside Quentin, Penny hears a familiar voice say,“Penny? Oh thank fuck.” Alice Quinn’s poised hands materialize seconds before the bubble of her phosphoromancy dissipates revealing herself as well as the other timeline Penny, standing in the elevator.“We need your help”, she states simply.





	1. Preview

**Author's Note:**

> So I couldn't deal with the finale.... and this happened.  
> So this stems from this really specific idea/image I had in my head when I first saw Penny greeting someone in the elevator. I legitimately thought there was going to be more than one person in there at one point. In fact, part of me wanted everyone to be crammed into that godforsaken elevator because they were breaking into the underworld for something. Yet another AU I might write.

Penny Aydiodi didn’t know what to think. Sure he had passed the test handed down to him by his Library superiors, but this new task he had been assigned... he wasn’t so sure about it.

The Library wanted him to collect the secrets people take to the grave with them. In a way he could see how this could be comforting. Being able to really _know_ something for sure once everything was all over. To have a system that recorded those things. But at the same time it seemed invasive. He supposed that was why his first person was someone he knew.

It would make him put the secrets into the greater context of the person he had know limitedly and let him see the importance of gathering those secrets. Or so he hoped.

 

Either way the elevator was arriving soon. Penny straightened his entirely on brand grey suit and straightened his spin. He could do this. Soon the door would open and he would be face to face with someone he thought he would never see again.

Sure Penny had kept up with his group of friends after he had died. It was a lot easier when he could just read the newest pages of their books than it had been trying to figure out what was going on while he was alive. But he thought he would only read about them after his death, never speak to them again.

The elevator arrived and a subdued chime sounded. The sleek doors drew back to reveal Quentin Coldwater. That hadn’t been what he was expecting.

“Hey.” Penny nods his head in greeting. “Been awhile”

Quentin Coldwater, brows scrunched and breathing hard looks back at him. He had the same floppy hair and lack of fashion sense as always, even if he looked like a kicked puppy.

“Welcome to the Underworld” he greets.

“Really?” Quentin asks in disbelief. Okay, Penny got it. This was... not so bad. Penny was just about to open his mouth so he could usher Q away, when from right beside Quentin, Penny hears a familiar voice say,

“Penny? Oh thank fuck.” Alice Quinn’s poised hands materialize seconds before the bubble of her phosphoromancy dissipates revealing herself as well as the other timeline Penny, standing in the elevator.

“We need your help”, she states simply.

Penny blinks. Then blinks again.

“Alice? What are you doing here?” he demands. “Only dead people are supposed to be in the Underworld and last time I checked you, Alice Quinn, were very much not dead.” he rebukes.

“Neither is Quentin.” She replies in that nasal semi-shrill tone of voice she always used when riled. Penny really didn’t like where this was going. But this was definitely going to mess up his first day at his new job.Fuck.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here I am. Finals are done and life has settled down. Hope you enjoy!

Penny took his thumb and middle finger and jammed them in into corners of his eyes right next to the lacrimal gland until bright stars erupted on the edges of his vision. He took a deep breath and released it along with his frustrated hold on the bridge of his nose. The spots fully cleared from his eyes at the same time he came to a decision.

“Follow me.” He said, turning on his heel and walking down the corridor.

“Alice what..” Quentin started to ask.

“Can you **not** , for one second” Alternate Penny exclaimed, while hurrying along behind. This cut off all further conversation. The group moved in silence. Alice’s hands primed to bend light should the need arise.

Penny took the group down several twists and turns of moderate grey hallways. They finally reached a hallway of nondescript doors. Penny walked up one such door, sighed then mumbled to himself.

He grabbed the handle and turned it clockwise, counterclockwise, then back again like undoing a combination lock. The doorknob then made a clicking noise like a latch falling into place. Penny opened the door and gestured everybody inside.

 

Inside was a conference room, grey and sleek with accents of black and white throughout. Penny closed the door behind him, crossed his arms, then leaned back onto its surface once secure. The message being clear; you’re not leaving until you tell me what’s going on here.

“Explain.” Penny said in a short staccato bursts of air.

He was met with silence as the three looked between each other. Quentin was looking at Alice like she was some sort of savior, Alice was looking at Quentin like she wanted to hug him but wasn’t sure she could and Alternate Penny was looking from Alice to Quentin to the matte grey walls clearly marking this as a library area and back again.

“Alright, then. Guess I’ll start. What do you mean Quentin’s not dead?” Penny questioned.

“He couldn’t be” answered Alice, meeting Penny’s gaze.

“Gonna have to explain that one” Penny responded. She turned back to Quentin.

“Cast something.” She instructed.

“Um, okay” he responded. Quentin flicked his fingers to loosen them up then shrugged. He opted for a basic fire. He rolled his fingers, flicked his thumb, then gathered his finger ending in a snap, thinking the whole time nothing would come of it, only to have a small sputtering purple flame appear above his index finger.

Quentin drew his eyebrows together in confusion. Fire shouldn’t be that color.

“There.” Alice states triumphantly. “The dead can’t cast” She intoned, like Penny wasn’t aware.

“Okay. _How_ are you even here, then?” questioned Penny.

The underworld wasn’t exactly the easiest place to get to and to bring your body here, your ability to do magic. Penny didn’t doubt Alice could’ve maybe found some way to do it, but Quentin he had his doubts about. Penny wasn’t sure what was going on but this wasn’t something that just happened everyday. He was sure of that. Secrets taken to the grave wasn’t in the business of dealing with living, breathing, spell-casting magicians.

“I bent light.” Alice replied. At seeing his look of confusion, she bit her lip before continuing,

“There was a reaction, when Q mended the mirror.” She glanced off towards Quentin, “There was light....,” she paused like she couldn’t find other words, ”so I bent it.” she explained.

“And wound up in the underworld?” Penny wasn’t quite buying this.

“Light isn’t just light. Not exactly. It’s also a substance that interacts with certain fundamental...”

“Yeah, I’m not buying it.” Penny cut her off midstream. “You want me to help you, harbor fugitives and put, what is shaping up to be, a very nice afterlife here on the line for you. You’re gonna have to do better.”

“I had a feeling!” she expelled. He lifted his chin signaling her to continue.

“Sometimes, I don’t always have to consider circumstance when casting” She said while looking at the door over Penny’s shoulder, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Certain forms or movements just _feel_ better than others.” She meets Penny’s eyes. His face held a smile.

“You noticed.” He replied letting his arms fall from his chest then placing them in his pockets.

“You knew?” She questioned, losing some of the tightness in her shoulders.

“Lets just say that down here we get a little more detail on certain things.” Penny tipped his head to the side as if to say more or less.

“Okay,” she breathed. “So the light. It swallowed things up, Everett and Q but it wasn’t..” Her brows knotted.

“It wasn’t hungry enough” she said finally.

“Okaaaay” Alternate Penny says from behind her.

“When I was a Niffin there were certain, substances, bases of matter and existence, that had certain feelings to them.” She explained. “This one didn’t feel like anything I remember and before I knew what I was doing, I was casting. Some of the movements I don’t even think have names.”

“So why follow it?” Penny asked

“Because Quentin was dying.” She said like that was enough of a reason.

“Death is a natural part of life, Alice. You know that.” He firmly held her gaze.

“But dying after everything he has been through, fought through, fought for! That isn’t something I can just let happen”

“And you were worried about yourself.” Penny remarked. Alice took a step back, peering questioningly back at the man.

She had been. Alice knew she had done some terrible things, had pushed herself into shapes she didn’t quite recognize with her shade intact. She knew no amount of trying to push them pack into the perfect Alice-from-before-shaped box would change any of that. She really hoped it would help her bridge the gap but recent history had taught her that things weren’t so simple.

Penny turned up the edge of his mouth. Alice got the feeling that no matter how well she had known Penny in life, the man in front of her wasn't exactly then same person. She wondered how much of that was dying and how much was The Library.

 

“Okay so for the rest of the class who has no idea what’s going on here.” Alternate Penny demanded. Alice and Penny turned and took in the other two people in the room.

Alternate Penny was a couple steps off watching them with his arms crossed over his chest, very clearly unhappy. Quentin had backed himself up to the wall nearby, slid down it, and was sitting on the floor clutching his knees to his chest. Alice approached him, kneeling down to his level.

“Q” She muttered trying to get his attention. His eyes found hers. They were bright and conflicted.

“I’m supposed to be dead” Quentin stated.

“You’re not dead” She replied simply. His eyes searched hers. They seemed to find their answer.

“Okay” He nodded. She gently grabbed his hand and pulled him back to his feet.

A few feet away Penny had pushed away from the door and started pacing.

“This is typical.” Penny fumed as he moved. “You guys show up and everything goes to shit. Why am I not surprised?”

“Penny” Alice tried. Alternate Penny brought his arm out, stopping her from approaching Penny.

“Give him a minute. He’ll get there.” Alternate Penny assured. He seemed calmer now, more sure of something.

Penny eventually stopped pacing. He took in a deep breath then let it out through his mouth, like the act could rid him of his feelings. He then turned to address them.

“Alright. What do you need from me?” Penny asked

“A book” Alice replied. Penny narrowed his eyes at her. He then nodded.

“Alright then. First thing’s first. Q and double vision, you need a disguise.” Q mouthed the words double vision, before nodding to the plan. His mind was clearly still moving slow.

Penny turned to face the door. He used the lapels of his jacket to straighten the lines of his suit. Then tipped his head to one side then the other as if to pop his neck. Penny knew things were about to get very dangerous. He was preparing for battle.

“Okay then, let’s go fuck some shit up”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I'm absolutely playing fast and loose with canon. And it is going to serve me well.   
> Also, please let me know if you find a mistake in my writing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? So I have this whole idea for a story where Alice basically saves Q and in doing so solves all of the crappy writing decisions that were made this season. This is the start of that. It's slow going but it is going.  
> 


End file.
